Survey finds a quarter of New Yorkers found their finances worse in 2006

More than one-third of New Yorkers did not set aside any money for savings in 2006, according to a survey by KeyBank.

Among those who did manage to save, 75 percent squirreled away less than 10 percent of their income, and nearly a quarter saved less than 2 percent of income.

Key, a Cleveland bank with regional headquarters in Albany, N.Y., conducted its survey to gauge consumer attitudes toward saving and spending. It polled about 2,000 people across the country and broke out information for individual states.

Nationally, 40 percent of people did not set aside any money for savings in 2006.

The survey also found that 26 percent of New Yorkers see their personal or family finances as worse than they were in 2005, and nearly half said they are about the same.

The good news, Key said, is that two-thirds of New Yorkers plan to increase their savings in 2007. Of that group, 63 percent expect to raise the amount deposited in a banking account.

Key is encouraging people to select one day a week as "Saveday." On that day, all money normally spent on gourmet coffee, magazines, lunches outside the office and other discretionary items would be deposited instead into a savings or money market account. The bank estimated that $25 a week, saved in an account with a modest annual percentage yield of 1.25 percent, could grow to $1,333 by the end of the year.